and the crisis was upon
him.

The rancher knew where the miscreant was, and he determined to chance
it. He silently clubbed his Winchester, brought it back over his left
shoulder, and, concentrating his utmost strength in his arms, brought
down the butt of this weapon with resistless force.

It could not have been better aimed had the sun been shining. It crashed
on the crown of the unsuspecting Sioux, who sank silently to the earth,
and it is enough to say that the "subsequent proceedings interested him
no more."

"Sh!" whispered the husband; "there may be others near us; do you hear
anything?"

Neither could catch any suspicious noise, and he concluded it was best
to move on. If they should remain where they were when daylight came,
all hope would be gone. The situation would be hardly improved if they
stayed any longer in the gloom, after what had taken place.

Making known his purpose to his wife, he placed himself at the head of
Dick, and holding his bit, started forward. The mare followed the moment
she heard what was going on, and the mother with her child walked
between.

But less than twenty steps were taken, when the leader paused abruptly,
alarmed by an altogether unexpected discovery. The twinkle of a light
appeared among the trees in front, so directly in their path that, had
they continued straight forward, they would have stepped into the blaze.

This was cause for astonishment, and suggested that the fugitives had
struck a place where other Sioux had gathered, probably a number who
knew nothing of what had taken place a short time before. If this were
true, there ought not to be much difficulty in working past them.

Still, critical as was the situation, he felt that the chance to learn
something ought not to be thrown away. Whispering to his wife to remain
where she was, he left her and stole forward until he could gain sight
of the blaze and those surrounding it.

There was the fire made by a number of sticks heaped against the trunk
of a tree, and burning vigorously, but to his surprise, not an Indian
was in sight. How many had been gathered there, how long since they had
left, whether they would return, and if so, how soon? All these were
questions that must be left to some other time before even attempting to
guess the answers.

He waited some minutes, thinking possibly the missing warriors would
return, but not one showed up, and he felt it would not do to tarry
longer. A goodly portio